New Westminster

New Westminster, city, southwestern British Columbia, Canada, on the Fraser River estuary, in the southeastern part of Vancouver metropolitan area. Founded in 1859 on a site chosen by Colonel Richard C. Moody, it was called Queensborough until renamed at the suggestion of Queen Victoria. New Westminster was the capital of colonial British Columbia (1859–66) and the province’s first (1860) incorporated city. It was the scene of a disastrous fire in 1898.

New Westminster is one of western Canada’s busiest ports, a major rail junction, and one of the province’s largest industrial and marketing centres. Known for the manufacture of forest products, New Westminster also has other industries, including food processing (fruit and vegetables), distilling, brewing, shipbuilding, and oil refining. Pop. (2006) 58,549; (2011) 65,976.